Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE – Award Recipient
By Brianna Adams, BABCPHL Coordinator and Junior at Temple University
The 2019 BABCPHL Signature Annual Holiday Lunch Honoree was Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE. Oliver is a long standing BABCPHL Board Member, the Honorary British Consul of Greater Philadelphia, and an adviser to wealth management firms. At the end of 2019, Oliver received the Distinguished Friend of Oxford award. This award is given to those who demonstrate exceptional volunteer efforts on behalf of the University. The Vice Chancellor presented Oliver with this award for founding the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Philadelphia, and for speaking on behalf of Oxford University at various conferences. Additionally, Oliver was also elected as an Honorary Fellow of Oxford’s oldest college, Balliol College. As a Fellow, he will engage with academic, political and business leaders on post Brexit Britain and US relations.
Oliver’s relationship with United Kingdom began in the 1960s when he was a student at Lincoln University. As a result of his dedication and interest in promoting the United Kingdom abroad, in 2002, Her Majesty the Queen recognized Oliver’s services to British business by awarding him with the OBE Honour. Some of Oliver’s work has included the creation of programs for Philadelphia Public School students to visit London and for mid-career American minorities to work in the United Kingdom at Investment Banks. He has also educated numerous UK business groups on US fiscal and financial policies, as well as hosted senior members of the British Royal Family, government ministers, and members of Parliament.
The British Government appointed Oliver to the position of Honorary British Consul of Greater Philadelphia in 1998. In this role, Oliver collaborates with the Consul General in New York and the British Embassy to provide businesses with advice, solve consular issues in the Philadelphia Region, and participate in public diplomacy.
Oliver has been an active BABCPHL Board Member for more than two decades. The BABCPHL would like to thank Oliver for all that he does to promote the diplomatic, business, and cultural ties between the Philadelphia Region and the United Kingdom, as well as congratulate him for his recent awards.
